Drier



W. C. CARPENTER Jan. 10, 1928.

DRIER Filed Deo. 5, 1925 Patented Jan. 10, 1928.

WILLIAM C. CARPENTER, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

DRIER.

Application led December 3, 1925. Serial No. 72,899.

My invention relates to improvements in driers of the particular typethat are designed for the rapid and economical drying .of sawdust,shavings, and like comminuted vegetable matter or in fact any pulverizedor granular products that require partial or complete drying'beforebeing put to its particular use.

The principal object-s ofmy invention are to provide a drier that isrelatively simple in construction and which may be economically operatedfor thoroughly drying large quantities of pulverized or comminutedmaterial, to provide improved means for delivering the material to bedried into one end of the drier andeffecting the discharge of a materialfrom the other end of said drier, to arovide an improved arrangementwhereby heated air, gases, or the like are caused to travel iirst in onedirection through the entire length of the drier chamber or drum, andthence in the opposite direction for the entire length of the drier, andfurther to generally improve upon and simplify the construction of theexisting forms of rotary driers and particularly those used for dryingwood shavings, sawdust, peat, straw, and other matter that is used inthe manu facture ot' fuel briquets.

lilith the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists incertain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts thatwill hereinafter' be more fully described and claimed and illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, in which- 1 is a vertical section takenlength` wise through the center of a drier of my improved construction.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line 3--8 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line 4 4 0f Fig. 1. x

Referring by numerals to the accompanyu ing drawing which illustrates apractical embodiment yof my invention, l designates a drum or hollowcylinder preferably formed of suitable sheet metal and of any desireddiameter and length. For all practical purposes this drum. may be from 4to 8 or 10 feet in diameter and from 30 to 60 feet in length. The inletend of this drum is closed by a head 11 and the opposite or outlet endof the drum is provided with a conical shell 12 and the latter beingprovided at its outer end with ka circular discharge opening 13. Carriedby the end of the shell 12 and disposed around opening 13 is a ring 14that is channel shape in cross section and which receives the inturniange 15 that is formed on the upper portion of a dried material chute16.

The inlet end of the drum 10 is positioned within the cylindricalportion of-a hot air furnace 17 and the drum, when set up for use,occupies a slightly inclined position relative to a horizontal plane sothat its dischrge end is slightly lower than its inlet en Secured on theouter face of the drum and at points suitably spaced apart are circumferential rails 18 that bear on grooved rollers 19, the latter beingmounted in suitable bearings.

Secured on the drum, preferably at an intermediate point, is a circularrack 2O with which engages a gear wheel 21, the latter being carried bya driving shaft 22, and which latter, when rotated, imparts rotarymotion to the drum through said gear wheel 21 and rack 20.

Formed in the center of head 11 is a circular aperture 23 through whichpasses the lower end of an inclined tube 24, the same extendingoutwardly and upwardly at an angle through the top of the furnaceextension 17.

Extending lengthwise through this inclined tube is a centrally arrangedpartition 25 that divides the space within said tube into an upper airoutlet duct 26 and a lower material inlet duct or chute 27. The upperend of the material inlet chute communicates with a hopper 28 that islocated externally of the furnace member 17 and the upper end of airoutlet duct 26 communicates directly with a stack 29.

Air leakage through the` joint between tube 24 and opening 23 isminimized by a suitable packing arrangement between head 11 and tube 24and which arrangement Vpreferably comprises overlapping ring flanges 24athat are secured to said tube 24 and head 11. n 4

The` partition 25 is arranged sothat its lower or inner end occupiesa`position above the axis of the tube 24 while its upper end occupies aposition below the axis of said tube 24 and thus the material inletchute 27 gradually increasesv in cross sectional dimensiOIlS toward itslower end with the result that the iinitei'ial will readily pass throughsaid chute without clogging.

Hinged to the lower end of the partition 5 is the ripper straight edgeot a semi-circular plate 30, the saine being tree to swing in bothdirections. lllhile the drier is in operation and material is passingthrough chute 2T, plate 230 will swing outward and upward as a resultot' the pressure of the material against its inner 'tace and its loweredge will drag over the material that is discharging into the drinn l0.Vis a result ot this arrangement, the air tha is dif'icharging 'trom thedrum will pass through open outlet 26 rather than through thepractically closed material inlet duct QT.

Secured to the inner :l i ot' conicalinein- `ber l2 are materialdisrharge chu 8l, preterably constructed ot suitable sheet metal that.are lient into spiral shape when viewed in elevation or eros.` sectioinand which chutes are designed to piel; up the dried material while atthe bottoni or lower portion of their circular path ot trziiel and topermit the discharge bi: gravity ot said inaterial as said chiites'lpar. liioiigh the upper portion ot their circular irayel and duringwhich latter period said chiites occupy the inclined position as shownby the upper one ot said chutes in l.

Arranged within the drinn i() in'iniediately adjacent to the wallthereof and extending the entire length ot said drinn are tubularmembers 3:2 that are preferably formed oi suitable sheet metal and thetoiward or inlet ends of said tubes are seated in head ll.

The 4ends ot the tubes 32 that terminate adjacent to conical member l2are reduced in diameter and said reduced ends are rebent as designatedby 33 and said re-bent ends project a short distance lengthwise to wardthe inlet end ot the drier so as to torni short jet nozzles These tubesare for the purpose ot conducting heated air and gases lengthwisethrough the body ot the drier at a point adliacent to the wall ot drinnl0 and said heated air and gases discharge from the jet nozzles 34; andpass in the opposite direction or rearwardlyT through the centralportion ot the drum and through outlet duct 26 to stack 29.

Tubes 32 are retained in position adjacent to the wall ot drum' l() byring-shaped trames 35, the latter being secured to the wall ot drum l0by bolts such as 3S and secured to each ring-trame 35 are the outer endsor radially disposed arms 39, theinner ends thereof occupying recessesthat are formed in a centrally arranged ring-shaped bearing block 40.

Passing radially through each ring-shaped bearing block is a series otset screws such as il the outer ends thereof bearing directly againstthe inner ends ot the corresponding ai'ins 5E). liihen the set screws elare tight-- cned against the inner ends ot the arms 89 the correspondingring-shaped 'trame 37 will be forced outward with considerable pressurethereby clamping the tubes 52 against saddle blocks Ll-Q and whichlatter are disposed between each tube P2 and the wall ot' drinn l() (reeFig.

Arranged between the tubes 3Q and eX- tcnding between the shell ot drinnlO and the rings 37 are radially disposed plates 43 that extend theentire length ot the drinn andthe inner edges ot these plat-es are bentn laterally to torni lips or lianges 44. These plates Vwith theirtlanged inner edges tunetion as carriers to piek up the piilyerizedinatei'ial from the bottoni ot the drum and carry the same upward to thetop ot the drinn :trom which latter point the material 'will dischargefrom said carriers and pass harliwardly to the bottom portion ot thedrum.

rl`he operation of my improved drier is as follows The driiiii rotatedby the operation of power driven el 22 and the sawdust, shayings. orother material to bedried is delivered to the inlet end ot the drinnthrough chute 2T. A blower torces heated air and gases liioni thefurnace into and through tube: 3Q thereby providing a heating zoneentirely around 'the wall oit the drinn and the heated air and gases.`atter passing through the tubes dischai ge. Jfrom nozzles Bliand passlengthwise through the central zone of the drinn and said air andgasei-f7 which practically cooled by the time they enter the upperportion ot tube 2t? pass oli through outlet duct .26 and stach 2f). l

its drinn l0 continues to rotate the ma terial to be dried will passover the heated tubes and the material that is caught between said tubesand by the carrier., it?) will be carried upward to the top oit thedrum, from which point said material will drop bail-lr to the lowerportion ot the drum aud in so doing said material will. encounter theheated air that is passing through the central portion oi the d ann. i

Obviously the material th at is being dried fill absorb a considerableportion ot the heat trom the highly heated air and gases passing throughtubes 32 so that the temperature of the air and gases discharging fromthe nozzles Set will be lowered to such a degree as to preclude anypossibility ot ignition of the material that is passing through vthedrinn. i

As the drinn continues to rotate the inaterial will gradually pass tothe discharge end ot said drum owing to the inclined p0- sition of thedrum and as the spirally bent chutes 31 pass through the lower portiono't their circuiar path or' travel they will pickup the dried materialand carry the same to the material inlet.

top of the path ofl travel and from which latter point said driedmaterial will, by the inclination of the spirally bent chutes, dischargedownwardly therethrough and pass into outlet chute 16.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a drier that is relativelysimple in construction, capable of being easily and cheaply produced andwhich is very effective in per-v forming its intended functions. Anespecially desirable feature of my improved drier is the arrangement ofthe heated air and gas conveying tubes around the wall of the drum andthe re-bent ends of said tubes whereby the heated air and gases arecaused to travel first in one direction and then in the oppositedirection entirely through the drum, thus materially increasing theefficiency and capacity of the drier.

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form andconstruction of the various parts of my improved. drier may be made andsubstituted for those herein shown and described without departing fromthe spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in theappended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a drier, a rotary drum having a inaterial inlet at one end and amaterial outlet at the other end, a series of heated air ducts arrangedon the interior of the drum and extending lengthwise adjacent to thewall thereof, andthe discharge ends of which air ducts terminate withinthedrum adjacent to one end thereof and said discharge ends being rebentso as to discharge heated air lengthwise through the chamber in the drumbetween said series of air ducts.

2. In a drier, a rotary drum having a material inlet at one end and aVmaterial outlet at the other end, a series of .heated air ductsarranged on the interior of the drum and extending lengthwise adjacentto the wall thereof and the discharge ends of which tubes are re-bentand projected toward the end of the drum that is provided with the 3. Ina drier, a rotary drum, a series of heating tubes extending lengthwisetherein and arranged adjacent to the wall of the drum, the dischargeends of which heating tubes are rebent within the drum to form nozzlesthat discharge heated air lengthwise through the chamber in the drumbetween saidV series of heating tubes, one end of said drum beingprovided with a material inlet and an air outlet and the opposite end ofsaid drum being provided with a dried j material outlet opening and aseries of material discharge chutes arranged on the inner face of thetapered end portion of said drum.

6. In a drier, a rotary drum, one end of which is tapered and providedwith a dried material outlet opening and a series of material dischargechutes arranged on the inner face of the tapered end portion of saiddrum, each of which discharge chutes comprises a section of sheet metalbent into spiral form.

7. In a drier, a rotary drum, a series of heating tubes extendinglengthwise on the interior of said drum adjacent to the wall thereof,the ends of which tubes at one end of the drum are open and communicatewith the exterior of the drum and the yopposite ends of which tubes arere-bent so as to form short longitudinally disposed discharge nozzles.

`8. In a drier, a rotary drum, a series of heating ltubes extendinglengthwise on the interior of said drum adjacent to the wall thereof,the ends of which tubes at one end of the drum are open and communicatewith the exterior of the drum, the opposite ends of which tubes beingre-bent so as to form short longitudinally disposed discharge noz-LZles, a material inlet chute leading into one end of said drum and anair outlet chute arranged adjacent to said material inlet chute.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

WILLIAM C. CARPENTER.

